DVD review Fury (15) - 8 out of 10

Fury

Damon Smith

Published:07:32Wednesday 04 March 2015

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Eight weeks after he enrolls in the US Army as a clerk typist, Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) is assigned the position of assistant driver in a tank christened Fury under the command of Sergeant Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier (Brad Pitt).

This battle-weary veteran began the war in Africa and moved to Europe, killing numerous Germans along the way.

Aided by the rest of the tank’s crew, Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Trini Garcia (Michael Pena) and Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal), Collier gives Norman an initiation he will never forget on a series of missions led by Captain Waggoner (Jason Isaacs).

Three other tanks commanded by Sergeant Binkowski (Jim Parrack), Sergeant Davis (Brad William Henke) and Sergeant Peterson (Kevin Vance) flank Fury as the US soldiers push on towards Berlin.

“It will end soon,” Collier assures Norman, “but before it does, a lot more people gotta die.”

Directed with testosterone-fuelled swagger by David Ayer, Fury is a familiar picture of the hell of war, studded with polished dialogue that doesn’t quite ring true, like when Collier berates thuggish Grady,

“You’re an animal. All you understand is fist and boot”.

Pitt leads the cast with a strong performance as a battle-weary commander, who holds back a tide of anguish until he is alone and can allow sobs to shake his scarred body.

Lerman is equally compelling as a naive whelp, who develops a taste for killing Nazis. Ayer repeatedly sates a thirst for close-up gore with expertly choreographed battle sequences between ground troops.

The bloodbath temporarily abates for brotherly banter inside the claustrophobic tank, but the air is always chokingly thick with impending doom.